Track, Daily, Burn: 2011 Mazda2 vs 2017 Ford Transit Connect vs 1985 Audi 4000 Quattro

Happy Friday! We’re at the end of a short week, so I thought we’d take our three winners and pit them against each other in a game of Track, Daily, Burn. The rules should be self-explanatory; it’s just like that other party game, only with cars. One becomes your new weekend toy, another your new daily driver, and the third must be torched for the insurance money.

Our third winner for the week was, if I may say so, a very deserving one: the red Audi Quattro absolutely creamed that cosplaying cop car. Don’t get me wrong; Studebaker Larks are very cool old cars, but I highly doubt any were ever actually cop cars – though there was a special long-wheelbase taxi version, so I guess anything is possible. At any rate, this one was turned into a cop car by someone with a vinyl cutter and no spell-checker. “Heros,” honestly. Come on.

The early Audi Quattros, with their lockable diffs and mandatory five-speed manuals, were way cool cars, and much simpler machines than you think. They’re just a little weird, so you have to approach them on their own terms, kind of like Saabs. Get a good repair manual (Bentley, none of that Chilton or Haynes nonsense) and some decent tools, and dive in. The drive is worth the maintenance learning curve.

All right; we all know the game, so let’s recap the contestants:

2011 Mazda Mazda2

This little green Mazda was Tuesday’s winner by default, after a bunch of you pointed out that its Camaro competitor was a bait-and-switch deal. They say cheaters never prosper, which sadly isn’t necessarily true, but not on my watch, they don’t, bucko. This Mazda2 is beat-up – and worse, automatic – but it’s honest.

Obviously, this would make a good daily driver, especially in the city, with its compact size and good fuel economy. But small front-wheel-drive economy cars like this make pretty good amateur rallycross cars too, and the automatic doesn’t matter so much there. Or, I guess, if you really can’t find anything redeeming about it, it’s probably pretty flammable.

2017 Ford Transit Connect

When you’re waiting on delivery of something cool – a vintage Genesis concert T-shirt, maybe, or a Funko Pop figurine of Bill Nye The Science Guy – what vehicle delivers it is the last thing on your mind. But a lot of those delivery vehicles end up on the used car market like anything else, and you can buy one. This Ford van has delivered all sorts of cool stuff, and probably a lot of lame boring stuff as well, all over the upper Midwest, and on Wednesday, it delivered a narrow victory over a pale yellow VW Beetle.

You might think the idea of putting a big, boxy vehicle onto a race track is silly, but there is plenty of precedent, including from Ford itself. Since this is based on the same platform as a Focus, technically you could shoehorn the drivetrain from a wrecked Focus ST or RS into this, and create a little mini-Supervan of your own. When it absolutely, positively has to be there right now… oh wait, that was FedEx, not DHL.

1985 Audi 4000S Quattro

I admit it; I was really hoping this Audi would win yesterday. I grew up with VWs and Audis of this era, and I’ve always liked them. Several years ago, I was actually on the hunt for a 4000 Quattro, and had this one been around then, I might have jumped on it. It’s closer to stock than most inexpensive Quattros you see, and despite some rust, it’s actually in pretty good shape.

Obviously, with its racing pedigree, this car would be a natural for autocross or rallycross, or even track use if you really wanted to. But personally, I think it would be a tragedy to pull out that nice interior to make this a race car. Lots of folks are afraid of German cars this age, but not me; I’d daily this thing.

So there they are, and you know the game: choose one as a daily driver, one as a track toy (keeping in mind that “track” can mean any motorsports activity), and one to set ablaze. I’m not doing a poll, because it would have nine entries and be really confusing. So you’ll have to just put your choices in the comments. You’ve got all weekend to debate, discuss, and decide. See you back here on Monday!